Climate Technology

U.N. report forecasts continued high food prices for the next decade

Food prices worldwide are likely to remain relatively high for at least the next decade, according to an analysis by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Biofuel demand, high energy costs, and commodity speculation will continue to keep food prices high in the long term, despite periodic dips in price. Climate change is also […]

Dow Chemical ordered to clean up dioxin downstream of headquarters

Dow Chemical on Wednesday was ordered to clean up dioxin in homes and yards downstream of its Michigan headquarters, the result of dumping dioxin-laden chemicals in nearby rivers for decades. Test results revealed yesterday show dioxin levels in and around a number of houses some 20 miles downstream exceed by a few times the level […]

Sapphire Energy hopes to soon power your car with algae

Sapphire Energy says it has successfully turned algae into biofuel, raising hopes that a viable oil alternative could be produced without need for agricultural land. The indeed-sapphire-colored fuel produced by the year-old company is coaxed from algae, sunlight, non-potable salt water, and carbon dioxide. Sapphire says its fuel is equivalent to conventional crude in both […]

Exxon shareholders reject resolution to shake up management

Exxon shareholders have rejected a high-profile resolution to strip one management role from current Chair-‘n’-CEO Rex Tillerson and hire an independent chairperson. The influential Rockefeller family, along with various other investors, had pushed for the split. “Despite top-notch individual directors, [Exxon’s] record over the last decade, particularly regarding climate change, demonstrates that debate has been […]

Listen as I talk green collar jobs on NPR

Interested in the promise of — and questions about — the growing “green collar jobs” movement? Listen Wednesday, May 28, at 11 a.m. EDT as I discuss it on NPR’s Radio Times, a popular call-in show from WHYY in Philadelphia, the station that also brings the nation Fresh Air with Terry Gross. Bracken Hendricks of […]

McDonald’s Australia will sell certified-sustainable coffee

Starting next year, all coffee sold at McDonald’s in Australia will be certified sustainable by the Rainforest Alliance. The country’s 484 so-called McCafés make 5,000 cups of joe per hour; Mickey D’s pockets 20 percent of the more than $1 billion that Aussies spend on away-from-home coffee. The Rainforest Alliance certifies coffee farms that reduce […]

Swedish company will vend verified sustainable ethanol

Swedish biofuel company SEKAB says it will become the first company to vend ethanol verified to be environmentally and socially sustainable. The company is partnering with Brazilian producers to develop criteria for the full lifecycle of fuel-bound sugarcane, verifying that the fuel was not produced through child or slave labor, was processed in fair working […]

Fortune Brainstorm: Green conference wrap-up site

Remember that Brainstorm: Green conference I went to last month, put on by Fortune magazine? Now Fortune has put together a mini-site devoted to the conference, with tons of pictures, videos, slides, and links to blog posts about the presentations. Notably absent from the latter: a link to my posts on the conference. What am […]

But soon we will be mad for $6-7 gas

Normally, I would listen to Robert Hirsch and the legendary Charlie Maxwell, over CNBC's "Mad" Jim Cramer. But Hirsch and Maxwell are making headlines for saying $12-15 gasoline is around the corner, based on Maxwell's projection of oil "reaching $180 a barrel in 2015 and $300 a barrel in 2020."

Sorry, guys -- every extra $40 barrel is another dollar a gallon or so at the pump. Don't quite know how they did the math, but they did it wrong.

Monsanto execs make millions off farmers’ backs

Hugh Grant -- Monsanto chair, CEO, and president -- probably won't notice the increased price of a loaf of bread. And if he does, it will be with a smile. Grant is $13-million-and-change wealthier today than he was on Monday, as he choose to exercise stock options -- 116,000 shares worth -- that netted him a profit of over $114 per share.

Like many of us, I wouldn't mind paying the extra dollar per loaf of bread if I knew the majority of that dollar was going back into the hands of farmers. Instead, the higher prices at the checkout line are funneled to the agri-giants like Monsanto and Cargill, companies making record profits. Remind you of gas prices and oil companies? Reminds me that these agri-giants spent $100 million on getting their way in the Farm Bill, an investment with huge dividends -- for Monsanto's Hugh Grant, anyway.